Thread tension device



May 8, 1923;

H. H. GOVE THREAD TENSION DEV-ICE Filed May 27 1919 2 Sheets-Sheet;

May8, 1923. 4 1,454,637

H. H. GOVE THREAD TENS ION DEVICE Filed May 27 1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented May 8, 1923.

UNETED STATES rarest eaten,

HENRY H. GOVE, OF BIDDEFOR-D, MAINE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HOWARD R.WHITEHEAD, OF SACO, MAINE; CHARLOTTE M. GOVE ADMINISTRATRIX F SAID HENRYH. GOVE, DECEASED.

THREAD TENSION DEVICE.

Application fi1ed May 27,

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, HENRY H. Govn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Biddeford, in the county of York and State of Maine, haveinvented certain Improvements in Thread Tension Devices, of which thefollowing description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, isa specification, like reference characters on the draw- 1 ingsindicating like parts in the several figures.

This inventionrelates to thread tension devices of the character used inwinding, spooling andother machines, to maintain a tension or frictionaldrag on the thread, yarn, twine, or similar material handled by themachine. For convenience this material will be referred to hereinafteras thread.

Tension devices are used very extensively on such machines as those justmentioned and the present forms have, among other'objections, theparticular disadvantagev of frequently becoming so clogged with lint orother foreign material carried by the thread as to interfere veryseriously with their normal functions. These accumulations of lint varythe tension applied to the thread,

sometimes breaking the thread and frequently putting the tension devicecompletely out of commission by wedging apart the members that bear onthe thread so that they fail to exert any friction ,or tension on thethread. The present invention aims to devise a tension device which willautomatically maintain itself clear of accumulations of lint or otherforeign material, which will maintain a substantially-uniform tension onthe thread at all times, which the degree" of tension can be readilyadjusted, which- 1919. Serial No. 300,098.

Fig. 2 is an angular view on a larger scale showing the thread tenslondevice illustrated in Fig. 1, some of the parts being broken away toillustrate more clearly the details of holder; q I

Fig. 5 is an angular view showing another embodiment of the invention;and

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross sectional view through the head of thetension device shown in Fig.v 5 illustrating on a somewhat larger scalethe details of construction.

Fig. 1 of the drawings shows the invention applied to a spooler. Theapparatus shown comprises a bracket 2 supported in a block 4 which ismounted on a bar 6 with which these machines usually are provided, a setscrew 8 being employed to bind the block on the bar. The bracket isusually mounted in a slightly inclined position, sub stantially as shownin Fig. l, and the thread tension device issupported at the forward "orleft hand end of the bracket, as the parts At the opposite end of.

appear in Fig. 1. this bracket a support is provided for the bobbin orcop 10, or other'source of thread 1s)upp ly, hereinafter referred to asa bob- 1n. This support. as best shown in Fig. 4, consists of a spindle12 secured at one end in an arm 14: extending at substantially rightangles from the rear end of the bracket arm 2. The bobbin spindles 10are drilled longitudinally from end to end to provide a bore therein.These bores vary'somewhat in diameter and one of the objects of thisinvention is to provide a bobbin support that will accommodate thesevariations. The spindle 12 is considerably'smaller in diameter than thesmallest bore and itis provided at its free end with a removable tip 16tapered. as shown in Fig.4, and threaded on to the end of the spindle12. A. U-shaped spring 18 consisting of a piece'of'resilient wireextending through a transverse hole in the shank of the spindle 12 hasits legs bent to extend substantially parallel to the axis of thespindle, the extremities of these legs being turned inwardly towardeach'other.

The tip 16 centers the bobbin on the section, illustrating a novel formof bobbin Y spindle and the legs of the spring 18 are compressed orforced toward each other by engagement with the wall of the bore of thebobbin spindle so that it provides considerable friction between thespindle and the spring resisting the removal of the bobbin. Toaccommodate any wide variation in the diameter of the bores of thebobbins,

' in the diameters of their bores.

of the bore in the bobbin. Since the spring engages the bore of thebobbin for a substantial distance it exerts ample friction on the bobbinto prevent it from accidentally becoming loosened.

The thread tension device comprises a rod or wire 20 having its lowerend fixed in the bracket 2 and evtending more or less in an uprightdirection, depending upon the adjustment of the bracket arm. A small U-shaped fixture 22 is supported on the upper end of the rod 20 and inturn supports another rod 24- extending downwardly parallel tov the rod20. These rods may be made of relatively heavy wire. They are spacedapart in thedirection of "travel of the thread Tso thatthey engageopposite sides of the thread, any given point on the thread coming incontact with them successively. Close beside the rod 24 is a plate 26which, as best shown in Fig. 3, is pro vided with an eye at its upperend to re ceive a headed pin 28 supported in {the fixture 20 and forminga pivot on which the plate 26 can swing toward and from the rod 24. Athreaded rod or bolt 30 secured rigidly to the upper part of the plate26 projects at right angles thereto and co-opcrates with the plate toform a bell crank lever moving on the pin 28 as a fulcrum. A weight 32has a hole bored eccentric-ally therethrough and is threaded on the bolt30, this construction providing for the convenient adiustment f theweight longitudi-nally, of the bolt to vary more or less its effectivelevera e and thus to var-v the pressure. with which the plate 26 will heheld against the rod 24., Due to the fact that the mass ofthe weight 32is eccentrically disposed with reference .to the rod 30. the orce ofgravity will tend to hold the weight in its adjusted position. That is.it will prevent the weight from rotating on the rod due to vibration ofthe machine. The lower part of the rod 24 is bent, as clearly shown intherefore is obviated.

the drawings, to provide inclined portions 34 and the end of the rod isbent to form a pig tail guide 36 lying between the rod 20 and the bobbin10. Another wire 38 has one end fastened in a bracket head 40 formed onthe end of the bracket arm 2 and its opposite end is fastened at 42 tothe inclined part 34. These parts 36 and 88 form thread guides a-topposite sides of the parts that apply the tension to the thread. Thebracket head 40 is curved upwardly and over the parts of the thread.tension device above described and formsboth a hood or shield for themand also a guide for the thread. 1 I I v It willbe evident from aninspection of Fig. 1 that the natural operation of threading the deviceafterthe bobbin has been placed. on the support or. spindle 1 2 is toswing the thread T under theinclined parts 34 and 38, over the shield40, and then to carry it over thetransverse bar 44 to the spool 46. Thepull of" the spool on the thread draws. thethread upwardly along thelower surface of the inclined wire mem; bers 34 and 38 into the pig tailguide 36 and into the notch or angle formed between theinclined wire 38and the vertical face of the part 40. as clearly shown in Figs.

2 and 3. Thisoperation also pullls the.

thread into position between the plate 26 and the rod 24. -The threadingoperation thus is very simple and is, in a sense, automatic since it iseifected partly by the pull exerted on the thread by the spool. i

It will be appreciated that. due to the very open construction of thethread tension device and also to its positionnit is impossible for itto clog upwith lint-or accumulations of foreign material carried bythethread. @Any such material removed from the thread by its passagethrough the tension device falls clear of the device. since there isnothing on which it can lodge asit drops from the thread The mostserious objection to the present thread tensions It will also beappreciated that the apparatus can be manufactured very economically,that it will wear for a very long time, andthat the adjustment of thetension on the thread can be effected very easily and convenientlysimply by turning the weight 32 on the bolt 30.

A. somewhat different embodiment of the invention i illustrated in Figs.5 and 6 the various parts in these figures corresponding to those shownin Figs. 1 to 4, inclu-- sive. being designated. by primed referencenumerals. The general arrangement of parts is like that above described.but the rod 24' has a roll rotatably: mounted thereon against which theplate 26' bears. The roll is supported at its lower ,end by a taperedcollar 51 which. is driven on the rod 24' and any upward movement of theroll is limited by a collar 52 also fixed on the rod 24. The thread runsthrough the pig tail guide 86 between the roll and the plate 26, underthe shoulder on the bracket 40, and over this bracket, as shown in Fig.l, the drag of the thread on the roll rotating the roll. Preferably the-upper end of the roll is counterbored, as

indicated at 53, and this counterbored recess is filled with graphite tolubricate the roll. A collar 54 on the rod-20 prevents the thread fromclimbing upalong this rod. to a point above the upper end of the roll.

Under some conditions there may be a tendency for the plates 26 or 26'to chatter slightly, particularly when the thread is travelling at highspeed. I find that this tendency can be overcome and that a very uniformtension can be maintained on the thread by resiliently supporting theweight which produces the tension or frictional drag. Such anarrangement is illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, in which the weight 55 issupported from the bolt or rod 30 by a light tension spring 56. Thisspring takes up or absorbs the vibrations that apparently produce thechattering effect just mentioned and at the same time it appears toreduce the shock to which the thread is subjected due to Variations inits diameter. rangement thus reduces materially the breakage which isparticularly; rlikely to occur in spooling fine thread or yarn, and itproduces a smooth yielding, uniform tension that is very desirable indevices of this character. The roll 50 also contributes to this result.

In order to prevent the thread from sliding off the end of the brackethead 4L0, a flange 57 is formed on the edge of this head, as clearlyshown in Figs. 5 and 6. In this construction. also. the spindle 12' isprovided with two of the U-shaped springs 18 located at right angles toeach other so that they tend to effect an accurate centering of thebobbin on the spindle. It is obvious that the various features of thetwo forms of the invention can be used interchangeably as desired.

While I have herein shown and described the best embodiment of theinvention of whichI am at present aware, it will be understood by thoseskilled in this art that this embodiment may be modified in many par-This articulars without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention.

What is claimed as new, is:

l. A thread tension device comprising a part having a curved surface, aplate having a part extending substantially parallel with said surface,a pivot supporting said plate for movement to carry said part into andout of engagement with said surface, a rod projecting from said plate atan angle thereto, and. a weight adjustable on said rod, said weightacting to swing said plate toward said rod.

2. A thread tension device comprising two thread engaging members, meansfor guiding the thread between them, and means for relatively movingsaid members toward each other to pinch the thread more or less I as itpasses between them, said means comprising a weight and a bolt on whichsaid weight is threaded, the mass of said weight being eccentricallydisposed with reference to the bolt whereby it will be held. in adjustedposition longitudinally of the bolt by the influence of gravity on saideccentrically disposed mass.

3. A thread tension device comprising two rods positioned to engageopposite sides of the thread and spaced apart in the direction of travelof the thread, a plate mounted to bear against one of said rods, meansfor yieldingly urging said plate toward the latter rod, thread guidingdevices arranged to engage and guide the thread both before it comes incontact with said rods" and after it leaves them, and a hood coveringsaid rods and plate and over which the thread is guided.

4:. A thread tension device comprising I a roll, a plate mounted to bearagainst said roll, means for guiding a thread between said plate androll, and means tending constantly to relatively move said roll andplate to pinch the thread between them.

5. A thread tension device comprising-a roll, a plate mounted to bearagainst said roll, means for guiding a thread between said plate androll, and a weight acting to relatively move said roll and plate topinch the thread between them.

In testimony whereof 1 have signed my name to this specification.

HENRY H. GOVE.

